Strange matter flow suggests inflation was incomplete

IS THERE a bulk flow of matter coursing through our universe? A new study bolsters the idea – and paints a new view of the process of inflation, the exponential expansion that occurred moments after the big bang.

The universe can be divided into two components&colon; matter and radiation, which is seen as the cosmic microwave background (CMB). Much of the matter is in motion in a local sense – for example, our solar system is moving through the Milky Way. But according to the standard model of cosmology, the overall matter component should not be moving in any particular direction relative to the CMB. …

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